The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of accumulating loans without delivering commensurate infrastructure and development projects for Nigerians.
The party challenged the Federal Government to identify tangible projects completed with the loans obtained since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, arguing that the country’s growing debt burden had not translated into meaningful improvements in citizens’ living conditions.
The accusation was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC), Kola Ologbondiyan, in reaction to a recent comment by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, that the important question was what the government built with borrowed funds, rather than how much it borrowed.
Ologbondiyan said, “For three and a half wasted years, Tinubu’s government has borrowed without restraint and built nothing. No value, no legacy, no impact.”
The ADC-PCC alleged that several infrastructure projects being promoted by the administration were either inherited from the previous government or existed mainly as announcements and conceptual designs.
According to Ologbondiyan, “Except for projects inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari, many of the projects being advertised by the Tinubu administration are nothing but audio projects. They exist only on paper, as conceptual designs or as announcements on newspaper pages and television screens.”
The party questioned the progress of major projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway and Trans-Sahara Superhighway, accusing the government of prioritising publicity over demonstrable progress.
It also raised concerns about the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway, noting that the road, awarded more than eight years ago, remained a source of concern for motorists because of prolonged construction and delays.
Ologbondiyan said the government should focus on addressing the economic challenges confronting Nigerians rather than relying on publicity and self-congratulatory statements.
He said, “Citizens are hungry and enduring excruciating hardship. People are dying from hunger, insecurity and deprivation, while the government remains preoccupied with propaganda and self-congratulatory statements.”
The ADC-PCC also alleged that government ministries and agencies were struggling to function effectively, while critical directorates were failing to deliver on their responsibilities.
The party challenged Tinubu to identify at least one tangible project delivered with the loans obtained by his administration, apart from the solar farm installed at the Presidential Villa.
Ologbondiyan said, “If borrowing is truly for development, let President Tinubu show Nigerians one tangible project his administration has delivered with its trillions of naira in loans, beyond the solar farm in the Presidential Villa.”
He added, “The only thing this administration has successfully built is hardship.”
The campaign council also appealed to international donors, development partners and financial institutions to exercise greater scrutiny before extending further loans to Nigeria.
It urged lenders to demand accountability, transparency and prudent management of borrowed funds, stressing that borrowing could support national development if the benefits translated into improved living conditions for citizens.
The ADC-PCC maintained that its concern was not borrowing itself but the accumulation of debts without corresponding benefits for Nigerians.
It said, “Borrowing is not inherently wrong when the benefits translate into improved living conditions for citizens. What is unacceptable is a situation in which the country continues to accumulate debts without corresponding benefits for the people.”